NAND Gate Built From Bacteria

thodelu writes "Scientists have taken another step towards biological computing, with the creation of logic gates from gut bacteria and DNA. While something similar has been done before, the team says its logic gates behave more like the standard electronic version. They're also modular, which means that they can be fitted together to make different types of logic gates, paving the way for more complex biological processors to be built in the future."

Re:Did they have to use "gut" bacteria?

[Samantha Wright]

E. coli is the best-studied bacterium. It's a lot more convenient to work with them.

If it's any consolation, students in past years at iGEM have figured out how to make it smell like mint or bananas with some genetic engineering, if you add the right chemical precursor to the plate. You can even silence the foul-smelling metabolic pathways (which are part of, but not all of, the awful smell of feces) if you're really determined to, but most of the time it's not worth it.